Chiesetta di Sant'Antonio

On Piazza Sant'Antonio in Ortisei, the small church of Sant'Antonio was first recorded in 1430 and rebuilt between 1673 and 1676. Its 29-metre campanile is topped by an onion dome; inside are paintings, carved saints and stained glass.

Why it matters

A church dedicated to St. Anthony is documented on this site from 1430. The present Renaissance-style building was erected between 1673 and 1676 and consecrated in 1680 by Bishop Paulinus Mayr of Brixen. Its campanile has an onion dome and three bells. The chapel is dedicated to Anthony of Padua.

What to notice

Twelve seventeenth-century oil paintings depict scenes from the life of St. Anthony. Statues of Saints Rupert and Ulrich, carved by Johannes Vinatzer, date to 1684. The neo-Romanesque high altar carries an altarpiece by Swiss painter Melchior Paul von Deschwanden, made around 1850; side altars hold paintings by Josef Moroder-Lusenberg. The six painted stained-glass windows and the rose window above the entrance were donated by the Insam-Brida family in 1874. The Baroque pulpit has niches for the four Evangelists. Later works include a St. Francis by Ludwig Moroder-Lenert (1914), a Holy Trinity group by Vinzenz Moroder-Resciesa (1910) and a St. Anthony with the Child by Paul Moroder and Max Stuflesser (1945).

Context and history

The earlier church served a hamlet organised around the parish of St. James on the hill. In the late seventeenth century it was replaced by the present building, consecrated in 1680. Decorations added over the following centuries include the Vinatzer statues, the paintings, the Deschwanden altarpiece and the Insam-Brida glass of 1874. Further restorations took place in 1959 and 1985–86. The chapel also served the local Protestant community for a period. A Lourdes grotto by Jakob Crepaz and a Baroque St. John of Nepomuk stand in the churchyard.